Rugby Pro D2
Current season or competition: 2013–14 Rugby Pro D2 season | |
 | |
| Sport | Rugby union |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2000 |
| No. of teams | 16 |
| Country |
 France |
| Most recent champion(s) | Oyonnax |
Rugby Pro D2, also known as Pro D2 is the second level of domestic club rugby union in France, below the first division, Top 14. The competition was introduced in 2000. There is relegation and promotion between both the Top 14 and Fédérale 1, the third-level competition. The top club at the end of the season is automatically promoted to the Top 14; the 2nd through 5th place teams play each other for the second promotion place.
The bottom two are automatically relegated to Fédérale 1. The bottom two clubs of the Top 14 and the top two of Fédérale 1 then enter the Rugby Pro D2 for the next season. There are 30 rounds in the regular season, with each team playing each other team home and away. The two halves of the season are played in the same order, with the away team in the first half of the season at home in the second half. The semi-finals and final take place in May, with the second- and third-place teams hosting the semi-finals and the final taking place at a predetermined site. At present, 16 clubs compete in the competition.
All promotions are contingent on passing a postseason financial audit required for all clubs. Also, if a club above the bottom two places fails the audit, it may be relegated in the place of a club that would otherwise have been relegated.
Current teams
2013–14 season
Changes in the lineup from 2012–13 were:
- Oyonnax won the 2012–13 Pro D2 title and were thereby automatically promoted to the Top 14. Brive won the promotion playoffs to secure the second promotion place.
- The bottom two finishers in 2012–13, Massy and Pays d'Aix, were relegated from Pro D2 to Fédérale 1.
- The two bottom finishers in the 2012–13 Top 14 season, Agen and Mont-de-Marsan, were relegated to Pro D2.
- The two finalists in Fédérale 1, champion Bourg-en-Bresse and runner-up Bourgoin, earned promotion. Bourgoin had been forcibly relegated to Fédérale 1 for financial reasons at the end of the 2011–12 season[1] and initially there was doubt about whether they would be promoted back to Pro D2 (which would have reprieved Pays d'Aix). On 27 June 2013, LNR's financial watchdog, the DNACG (Direction nationale d’aide et de contrôle de gestion) permitted the promotion.[2]
Table
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| Club | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Points For | Points Against | Points Difference | Try Bonus | Losing Bonus | Points | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lyon | 19 | 15 | 0 | 4 | 493 | 319 | 174 | 7 | 2 | 69 | ||||||
| 2 | Agen | 19 | 13 | 0 | 6 | 481 | 311 | 170 | 4 | 6 | 62 | ||||||
| 3 | La Rochelle | 19 | 13 | 1 | 5 | 425 | 286 | 139 | 3 | 2 | 59 | ||||||
| 4 | Pau | 19 | 12 | 1 | 6 | 366 | 314 | 52 | 3 | 4 | 57 | ||||||
| 5 | Narbonne | 19 | 11 | 1 | 7 | 445 | 384 | 61 | 3 | 3 | 52 | ||||||
| 6 | Tarbes | 19 | 10 | 1 | 8 | 421 | 345 | 76 | 4 | 4 | 50 | ||||||
| 7 | Colomiers | 19 | 11 | 0 | 8 | 393 | 321 | 72 | 1 | 5 | 50 | ||||||
| 8 | Bourgoin | 19 | 8 | 2 | 9 | 330 | 337 | -7 | 3 | 5 | 44 | ||||||
| 9 | Aurillac | 19 | 9 | 0 | 10 | 400 | 446 | -46 | 3 | 3 | 42 | ||||||
| 10 | Dax | 19 | 8 | 2 | 9 | 320 | 357 | -37 | 0 | 4 | 40 | ||||||
| 11 | Béziers | 19 | 7 | 1 | 11 | 331 | 383 | -52 | 1 | 8 | 39 | ||||||
| 12 | Mont-de-Marsan | 19 | 6 | 3 | 10 | 326 | 383 | -57 | 1 | 6 | 37 | ||||||
| 13 | Albi | 19 | 6 | 1 | 12 | 359 | 473 | -114 | 0 | 4 | 30 | ||||||
| 14 | Bourg-en-Bresse | 19 | 5 | 1 | 13 | 354 | 429 | -75 | 0 | 8 | 30 | ||||||
| 15 | Auch | 19 | 5 | 2 | 12 | 275 | 476 | -201 | 1 | 2 | 27 | ||||||
| 16 | Carcassonne | 19 | 5 | 0 | 14 | 341 | 496 | -155 | 0 | 6 | 26 | ||||||
| Green background (row 1) Champions automatically promoted to Top 14. Yellow background denotes winner of the promotion play-offs. Blue background denotes other teams that qualified for the promotion play-offs. Red background (row 15 and 16) will be relegated to Fédérale 1. Source:Midol Updated: 10 February 2014 | |||||||||||||||||
Previous seasons
| Season | Champion | Play-off winner |
|---|---|---|
| 2013–14 | TBA | TBA |
| 2012–13 | Oyonnax | Brive |
| 2011–12 | Grenoble | Mont-de-Marsan |
| 2010–11 | Lyon | Bordeaux-Bègles |
| 2009–10 | Agen | La Rochelle |
| 2008–09 | Racing Métro | Albi |
| 2007–08 | Toulon | Mont-de-Marsan |
| 2006–07 | Auch | Dax |
| 2005–06 | Montauban | Albi Runner-up |
| 2004–05 | Toulon | Only one promotion as the Top16 became Top14. |
| 2003–04 | Auch | Bayonne Lost the play-off final to Auch |
| 2002–03 | Montpellier | Brive |
| 2001–02 | Mont-de-Marsan | Grenoble |
| 2000–01 | Montauban | Only one promotion as the top division reduced from 21 to 16 teams. |
Notes and references
- ↑ Moriarty, Ian (9 August 2012). "Bourgoin wilt under financial pressure". ESPN Scrum. Retrieved 13 September 2012.
- ↑ "PRO D2 : Le CS Bourgoin-Jallieu confirmé" (in French). LNR. 27 June 2013. Retrieved 2 July 2013.
See also
External links
- (French) Ligue Nationale de Rugby – Official website
- (French) Midi Olympique
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